Small Town Mysteries

Send us Fan Mail

One unhinged person murders their in-laws and the sister of her mother-in-law via death cap mushrooms. 

Sources: 

1) https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy3ngr2n3vo
2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leongatha_mushroom_murders
3) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-02/police-charge-erin-patterson-mushroom-poisoning-deaths/103056694
4) https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/30/erin-patterson-mushroom-poisonings-murder-trial-ntwnfb
5) https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/son-pays-tribute-to-extremely-thoughtful-and-generous-parents-gail-and-don-patterson-after-they-died-from-mushroom-poisoning-following-leongatha-lunch/news-story/2b5f5ad4e303390e5312c4077b7b46a9
6) https://www.sgst.com.au/news/memorial-service-brings-home-depth-of-korumburra-tragedy
7) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-67002918
8) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_phalloides
9) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-04/mushroom-poisoning-victim-heather-wilkinson-memorial-service/102929526
10) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-10/gail-don-patterson-heather-ian-wilkinson-erin-patterson-mushroom/105513208

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

On May 13, 1998, the body of a woman was found on the side of I-85 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. On September 25 of the same year, the body of a young boy was found underneath a billboard off of I-85 in Mebane, North Carolina. The bodies were found about 3 hours away from each other – in different months, in different stages of decay, even in different states. But more than 20 years later, the truth would come out – connecting these bodies, their lives, and their deaths, once and for all. 

Sources: 

1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_palynology
2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotope_analysis
3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Bobby_Whitt_and_Myoung_Hwa_Cho
4) https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article225508170.html
5) https://people.com/crime/john-mebane-doe-murdered-north-carolina-new-photo/
6) https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/investigations/two-decades-ago-a-10-year-old-was-killed-now-his-fathers-been-charged-with-murder/275-b4a44661-02a5-4269-a8ee-fad621c769ee
7) https://local12.com/news/local/brown-co-family-says-final-goodbye-to-missing-boy-found-murdered-in-1998
8) https://www.wral.com/man-to-spend-rest-of-life-behind-bars-for-killing-wife-boy-whose-remains-were-found-under-mebane-billboard/18888831/
9) https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article230338529.html

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

In the summer of 2005, Melanie Metheny’s family had a cookout. For Catherine Moles, it's a vivid memory of her niece, Melanie, then 20, doting on her three-year-old son, Ryan. Catherine remembers Melanie as "very, very watchful," and "very protective." The cookout was just a small glimpse into Melanie's world: her kids were everything to her. But little did Catherine know that the cookout would be one of the last times that she saw Melanie.
On July 19, 2006, just a year later, Melanie Metheny, at 21 years old, vanished.

Sources: 

1) https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/cold-case-spotlight/melanie-metheny-missing-person-west-virginia-rcna216494 
2) https://www.wvsp.gov/missing-persons/Pages/MissingPerson_Detail.aspx?personid=3
3) https://www.kanawhasheriff.us/Documents/MelanieMetheny.pdf 
4) https://melaniemetheny.wordpress.com/ 
5)https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/7wgihm/where_is_melanie_metheny_unresolved_disappearance/ 
6) https://www.melanieshope.org/?page_id=16

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

On September 21, 1909, six members of the Meadows family were murdered and had their log cabin set on fire. George and Lydia Meadows, as well as their children: Will, Noah, and Lafayette, and Lydia's mom, Elizabeth, were all hit in the head with an axe or hatchet. 

Sources: 

1) https://blueridgetruecrime.substack.com/p/death-rides-a-fast-train-the-laurel?open=false#%C2%A7an-unsettling-development
2) https://www.oocities.org/rmbaker66/jstsmrdr.html
3) https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2019/09/laurel-creek-murders-part-2.html
4) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/237051360/william-howard-little

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Listen to Kate talk about how truly witless this man was!

Sources: 

1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Wozniak_(murderer)
2) https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/16/theater/inspired-by-true-events-true-crime-play.html
3) https://abcnews.go.com/US/community-theater-actors-final-performance-chilling-confession-double/story?id=63181588
4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_(musical)

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Today, Christine talks about a person whose mission to complete a charitable act ended in tragedy. We are going to uncover the truth that was buried in the remote Scottish Highlands for three, long years. This is the story of Tony Parsons.

Sources: 

1) https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-66614488 
2) https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-56927878 
3) https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/25/drink-driver-killed-cyclist-on-remote-scottish-road-jailed-for-12-years
4) https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/23686444.red-bull-can-helped-find-body-missing-cyclist-tony-parsons/ 
5)https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/9mgrdz/tony_parsons_set_out_on_a_170_km_bike_ride_across/

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Today we are going back in time to the 1890s to talk about the murder of the Meeks Family.

Sources: 
1) https://www.murderbygaslight.com/2011/04/meeks-family-murder.html
2) https://sullivan.mogenweb.org/meeksmurders.html
3) https://www.hannibal.net/archive/article/history-in-hannibal-folktale-relates-towns-horror-over-meeks-family-murders/article_78cc9a66-7ce1-521a-a5e6-10c7363aa413.html
4) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/61610270/delora-meeks
5) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linn_County,_Missouri

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Over the course of just two days, so began a panic that ultimately led to the deaths of at least 7 people directly, and more from copycats – and borderline hysteria that would change the pharmaceutical industry forever.

Sources: 

1) https://www.chicagotribune.com/2022/09/30/the-tylenol-murders-40-years-ago-an-infamous-chicago-area-crime-took-these-7-lives/
2) https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/tylenol-murders-1982
3) https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/15/us/tylenol-figure-is-convicted.html
4) https://time.com/archive/6914067/a-brief-history-of-the-tylenol-poisonings/
5) https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1982/10/11/tylenols-maker-shows-how-to-respond-to-crisis/bc8df898-3fcf-443f-bc2f-e6fbd639a5a3/
6)https://web.archive.org/web/20111030094338/http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/18703672/detail.html
7) https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/tylenol-murders-40-years-later-who-have-investigators-identified-as-suspects-or-persons-of-interest/

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

On December 5th, 1872, about 400 miles off the coast of the Azores, crew members on the British ship Dei Gratia spotted a ship adrift in the sea. The Captain of the ship was shocked to find that the unguided ship was the Mary Celeste, which had departed from NYC eight days before him, and had been well past-due to have arrived in Genoa, Italy.
A small crew was sent to the ship. Below deck, items had been tossed around, and crewmen’s belongings were still in their quarters. The only lifeboat on the ship was missing, and one of the pumps was disassembled. There was a large supply of food and drink, but not a soul on the ship to consume it. So what happened to the ten people who had been on board the Mary Celeste? 

Sources: 

1) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/abandoned-ship-the-mary-celeste-174488104/ 
2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Celeste 
3) https://sippican.theweektoday.com/article/family-gathers-celebrate-legend-mary-celeste/58992 

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

This week, we talk about the murder of Patricia Richmond. This case will throw you for a loop!

Sources:

1) Murder in the Heartland, Season 3, episode 3: Beautiful Mess 
2) https://www.yampavalleyfh.com/obituary/5151291
3) https://www.denverpost.com/2016/05/24/man-pleads-guilty-to-killing-cousins-fiance-in-routt-county/
4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_County,_Massachusetts
5) https://www.uncovercolorado.com/towns/clark/

Support the show